Emerging Challenges in Education

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In OLTD 509, the topic of Emerging Challenges prompted us to think about the many challenges educators face when trying to provide powerful and positive learning experiences for their students. Instructor Avi Luxenburg reminded us that although it can sometimes feel like a lonely road, other like-minded educators continue to "whittle away at small and large systemic knots" in an effort to develop the sustainable change we need.

​The video below is a TedTalk by one such educator/researcher, Angela Lee Duckworth, who poses some very good questions:

What if doing well in school and in life depends on much more than your ability to learn quickly and easily?

Who is successful...and why?

Angela Lee Duckworth points out that IQ isn’t the only thing separating the successful students from those who struggle. She explains that in her studies one characteristic emerged as a significant predictor of success...GRIT.

Angela Lee Duckworth: The Key to Success? GRIT​

Revolutionizing the Revolutionaries: Who will be the most likely to succeed?

The following is a fabulous essay written by an inspiring cohort member, Karen Gadowsky, who always encourages others to delve more deeply into topics and to ask the really difficult questions. In her essay, Karen asks: "Does the education system really have the plasticity to adjust in response to the changing demands of the world? If so, can those change agents responsible, respond in a timely fashion?" Karen also questions the purpose of school in the modern world, and she asks the all important question...How do we recognize and define success, and what determines whether a student is able to "succeed"?​